Rugby: Relations between southern neighbours strained

Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley admits the relationship between southern neighbours is not what it was.

Otago and Southland will play in the opening round of the Mitre 10 Cup next month and there may well be some added fire in what is usually a torrid affair anyway.

Southland named its side for the competition over the weekend and included No 8 Mika Mafi.

Mafi played nine games for Otago last year but was not contracted for this season, with the returning Paul Grant preferred.

Kinley said Mafi was quite entitled to take up the contract. Otago had offered to loan him to Southland but Southland was not interested in that path.

"Obviously we can't sign 50 players so someone has to miss out. What we try and do is sign between 26 and 30 players and then have a small group in behind them who can come in should someone be injured,'' Kinley said.

"But say Paul Grant gets injured - and we hope not - in the first game and that opens the door to Mika. That is why we wanted to loan him. Southland would still have to pay his assembly fees and other fees. But Southland were not interested in that.

"They [Southland] said `come down and take a contract'. And that is his choice, I don't blame him.

"We used to have a pretty good working relationship with Southland but that seems to have erred a bit.

"We do know they seem to be having an issue down there with player depth.''

Former Harbour centre Aleki Morris also made the Southland team, while former Pirates captain Josh Clark and former Zingari-Richmond midfielder Lachie Moore played in Southland this season in an attempt to make the Southland side but failed to make the cut.

All had moved to Southland this year to play and were lost to Dunedin club play.

Former Otago midfielder Kieran Moffat will line up for Southland for another season.

Young prop Shaun Stodart was playing for the Southern club but had signed for Southland for three years. He went to school in Invercargill.

Kinley said the agreement used to be that Otago and Southland would work closely with each other rather than "work against each other'' which now appeared the case.

He understood Southland wanted to build a team but he just felt sorry for Otago coach Cory Brown who was losing playing depth to other unions.

"It is disappointing ... they are just nibbling away at the edges.''

Shadow teams from the two unions will meet at the University Oval on Sunday when the Sassenachs play the Spartans.

The full Otago squad for the domestic competition will be named on August 5.